The Perils of Self-Expression
by BananaNutCrunch
Summary: Rin has taken to wearing a bracelet on his left ankle. This is, in actual fact, gay club symbolism for being a catcher rather than a pitcher. Naturally, though, he never bothered to find that out first.


_"In canon, Rin seems to have a habit of wearing an ankle bracelet with one pant leg rolled up to show it. IRL, this is apparently a gay club symbol for advertising your sexuality and whether you are a top (left wrist/ankle) or a bottom (right wrist/ankle)._

_ I want to see Rin have picked this up somewhere just having seen it and thinking it looked cool-completely oblivious to its meaning. One of his friends or teammates recognizes the symbolism and eventually assumes or asks him about it (or hits on him?). When he finds out his mistake, he's totally embarrassed."**  
**_

A de-anon from the Free! kink meme.

* * *

"So."

"So?"

Having alumni drop in for a visit isn't unusual, Rin thinks, but the way ex-captain Mikoshiba leans against the wall and looks him up and down makes the current captain feel as though he's being quietly _appraised_. This annoys him somewhat, as most things tend to do, but he grudgingly admits he can see why. Rin is, after all, Seijuro's replacement. It makes sense that Sei should want to check up on his form, and the easiest way to do that, logically, would be to check on his physique.

…if they were at the pool, anyway. Why Rin is getting a once-over in the middle of the courtyard is beyond him, and he makes his impatience known by baring his teeth every so lightly at the young man he used to call his superior. Mikoshiba, being the moron he is, doesn't notice.

"Expressing yourself is never a bad thing," he says kindly, glancing down. Rin follows his gaze and realizes, finally, that the ex-captain is staring at his anklet.

"Oh." He relaxes and extends a foot, bringing his ankle into clear view. The hem of his jeans climbs a little bit farther up. "You looking at my ankle bracelet? I got it a couple of weeks ago," he says. It hadn't cost very much either, which is why Rin hadn't thought twice even though the feeling of having a slight weight above his foot had taken some getting used to. "Walking around with only one pant leg rolled up is kinda dorky, but there's no point wearing the damned thing if I can't show it off, you know?"

Mikoshiba whistles. "So you decided just two weeks ago? And you put it on your _right_?"

Rin frowns. "What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing, nothing." Sei is quick to place a mollifying hand on his friend's shoulder. "Like I said, expressing yourself is a good thing. I admire you for being bold like that. It's just, I didn't really peg you for the type."

Fair enough. Rin didn't often wear these kinds of things, since they were a big pain to take off before getting in the water. Wearing a silly accessory isn't really all that much of an achievement, but he accepts the compliment nonetheless. "Surprised myself, really."

The ex-captain, with the worldly air of someone who has experienced an impressive three months of tertiary education, considers Rin very carefully. Finally, he smiles. "You know, you're not as pretty as your sister."

"Wha-"

"But you're still cute as hell. Don't you worry, somebody's bound to notice you. And if anyone starts giving you shit, you got my number, right?"

The hand on his shoulder tightens. Rin doesn't see why anyone in their right mind would give him shit for wearing a stupid _ankle bracelet_, but he figures that maybe Seijuro has very strong opinions about fashion, like Rei. Although, Rin thinks that Rei's passion for beauty is caused by his flaming homosexuality, and ex-captain Mikoshiba's terrible attempts at wooing Gou suggest that, while Seijuro has all the smoothness of barbed wire, he is not actually gay.

Still, he shouldn't judge. If his captain is a homo, that's not Rin's problem. Patting himself on the back for being a good friend, Rin places his hand over his former captains and says, "right."

* * *

The thing with Seijuro is easy to forget about.

The flowers on his pillow, however, aren't.

He thinks that this might be a present from Gou, but the last time they spoke she had chastised him for finishing the spiced seaweed strips and not replacing them, so it's unlikely that she's overly fond of him right now. Her nagging hadn't been bad enough to warrant an apology either, so it can't be her. He doesn't know that many other people. Makoto would never give flowers to someone he didn't love, and he's the type to deliver them in person, so it can't be him. Rei cries at sappy movies and might be the type to leave anonymous gifts, except that Nagisa's got him wrapped around his little finger, so that's out. Haru doesn't have a romantic bone in his body, although he's into guys as well as girls (Rin had accidentally found his porn once while looking for new games on his laptop and Haru…should probably talk to a priest or something, actually. Rin never knew you could do stuff like that with a screwdriver. _Christ_).

He appreciates the sentiment, even if it looks like these particular flowers had just been plucked from the bush outside the dining hall (there's still a bit of dirt on them, in fact). There's an empty glass soda bottle sitting on his desk, so he sticks the flowers in there and makes a note to water them later.

A squeak comes from the corner of the room. Rin turns around.

Come to think of it, there's half of a foreign (and slightly elderly) burrito on his desk. Only two of his immediate friends have a taste for Mexican food. Sousuke isn't stupid enough to leave food lying around next to Rin's pristine textbooks. Nitori is, even though retaliation on Rin's part has always been swift and merciless. He picks out a jalapeño and pops it in his mouth. It's still warm, so the only conclusion Rin can come to is that his clingy junior must be around somewhere. Probably still in the room, in fact. The only place he could be hiding is in Rin and Sousuke's cupboard, but Nitori's done some pretty weird things in the past, so Rin isn't surprised if he's actually in there for some reason.

The wooden door groans slightly as Rin opens it. Inside, Nitori Aiichiro is awkwardly hunched next to a pile of clothes.

"What are you doing?"

"Just…cleaning," the younger boy says weakly, waving a sock.

"...why?"

Nitori's gaze shifts to the flowers on Rin's desk. "Well, we haven't been roomies for a while, so I guess I was starting to miss you a little bit."

Rin sighs. "You know, seeing you physically pains me sometimes. I really think you should come out of the closet."

To his surprise, Ai blinks, and then curls up on himself. Rin doesn't understand what he said wrong, or why his junior would be hiding in a cupboard anyway, but he softens his voice as he crouches. "Nitori. Listen to me. Out of the closet."

Aichiiro's voice wavers. "I want to. I want to come out. I'm trying, it's just. It's hard."

"No it isn't," Rin says flatly. He glances at the space between the bottom of the closet and the floor. "It's kind of a big step, I guess, but it's not that big of a deal. Look, I'll even help you if you want, just stop pouting at me, you're being annoying."

Blue eyes light up immediately, and Rin wonders not for the first time if Nitori had been thrown at a wall as a child. He does not have time to voice this thought, because he is suddenly attacked by a bowl-cut to the stomach.

"Really? Will you really help me?" his junior yells, and Rin goes toppling over onto the floor.

"Looks like you're doing fine on your own," he wheezes (his ribs are, after all, only organic), but Nitori doesn't stop doing his impersonation of a koala clinging to a eucalyptus tree, so Rin is basically stuck there until Nitori eventually falls asleep on him and Rin is free to stuff him back into the cupboard so he can go down to dinner.

* * *

Sousuke is, if possible, even less helpful.

"Look, I like you and everything, but there are some things I don't really want to know about, okay?"

Rin allows a moment of affront. "You're supposed to help me _out_, asshole. At least listen to me while I rant about stuff."

"Not this kind of stuff." Sousuke steals a gulp from Rin's soda, and in his slump, Rin can only bring himself to punch him a little bit. "What you do with Nitori in our room is your business, not mine. I don't need that kind of shit keeping me up at night."

"Thanks a lot, some friend you are," Rin mumbles and scuffs the ground with his sneaker. Samezuka is noisy as students make their way back from lunch. Their class has biology next, and they are heading to the lab to dissect some unsuspecting frogs. His ankle bracelet rubs against his skin in a comforting, familiar way, although it does nothing to make him feel less annoyed. The two of them settle into silence, and Rin pretends not to notice how his drink is slowly disappearing.

Sousuke is the first to break the silence. "It suits you," he gestures to the anklet.

Rin's grunt is noncommittal. He doesn't much care what other people think of the shit he puts on his feet. He's not dressing up for anyone but himself. Besides, he's got bigger things to worry about, like irritating juniors and ex-seniors.

The can is emptied. "So, right foot, huh?"

This time, Rin turns. "You know, Mikoshiba pointed out the same thing."

"Shit, him too?" Sousuke's gaze is thoughtful. "Well, he did seem to really like your sister, and you do look like her."

"Just _what_ in the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing." Sousuke pats him on the face. Rin tries to bite him, but misses. "Leather mean anything special?"

"Not really. I just like it."

"Leather is kind of hot."

"Yeah, I think so too. But it's just an anklet, so it's not that big of a deal."

"You got anything else in leather?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. My folks got me a jacket when they went to Turkey. It's black." And every bit as hot as Sousuke says. Rin had tried wearing it in summer and almost died of heatstroke.

"I'd like to see that," the taller boy says under his breath.

"Sure, why not? I'll wear it for you later."

Sousuke is strangely pleased about this. Still, Rin squawks, that's no reason to pat him on the bottom right outside the bio lab.

* * *

Perhaps unsurprisingly, it is Nagisa who eventually breaks the news the next time they see each other for lunch.

"I didn't know you were a bottom!" he says before Rin can even say hello.

He splutters. "_What-"_

"Your anklet. Right leg, means you like to bottom. Oh, do you have a boyfriend?"

Rin glances down. His jeans are still rolled up on one side, exposing his favourite accessory. Wordlessly, he looks up. Nagisa pats him on the shoulder.

"It's a gay thing."

"…!" Rin says.

"You didn't know, did you?"

"…!" Rin says again.

"You should probably sit down."

Rin sits.

Rei's train is due to arrive at any minute, so Nagisa skips off to the platform to wait. Nagisa's favourite form of greeting is to tackle his target, preferably to the ground. The members of the Iwatobi Swim team (and Rin) have all developed a habit of walking with their shoulders squared and centres of gravity lowered. Rei, showing marked improvement since last year, only stumbles slightly as Nagisa attaches himself to his neck. Rin fails to notice this. In his head, he is cataloguing the events of the past week, and understanding more about his friends than he'd ever wished to know. Face slowly beginning to blend in with his hair, he realises that his pant leg has been rolled up _the entire time_.

He does the only thing he can do, under the circumstances. He goes back to his dorm room and jumps out the window.

Unfortunately, their rooms are on the ground floor, and Gou, on one of her weekly visits, finds him sobbing into the flowerbeds two hours later. With strength that should not be present in a five foot four girl, she hauls him back into his bedroom and pinches her older brother's nose until he tells her the entire wretched story.

To her credit, she only laughs a little bit, but she goes through the trouble of compiling a list of gay club symbolism on his laptop while he sulks into his pillow. Sousuke tries to come in, once, but the look on Gou's face sends him shuffling into Nitori and Momo's room instead. Rin, oblivious to anything but his own misery, only stirs when she settles his laptop on his back and tells him not to buy any flashy accessories before checking them up first.

Rin, for the first time in years, listens to his sister and spends the rest of the night memorising.

(In all honesty, when Rin comes home during the weekend with his leather anklet _in the exact same place_, Gou isn't surprised at all).

* * *

**This is my first attempt at Free! fanfiction. Do please tell me what you think!**


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